Chelsea and Manchester City will have to smash the British transfer record if they want to sign Napoli striker Edinson Cavani after French giants Paris Saint-Germain made a £43million bid for the Uruguayan.
Cavani is wanted by both Chelsea and City but PSG's bid will mean they will have to up their attempts to land the striker. PSG's bid is short of the £53.9m figure Napoli want which will also cover the tax on the deal.
But Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said Cavani will not be sold for any less than his asking price - about £54million.
He told Sky Sports News: 'We have not had a direct offer from PSG.
'Napoli is a very rich club and we comply with financial fair play. We don't need to sell any of our players.
Cavani is wanted by both Chelsea and City but PSG's bid will mean they will have to up their attempts to land the striker. PSG's bid is short of the £53.9m figure Napoli want which will also cover the tax on the deal.
But Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said Cavani will not be sold for any less than his asking price - about £54million.
He told Sky Sports News: 'We have not had a direct offer from PSG.
'Napoli is a very rich club and we comply with financial fair play. We don't need to sell any of our players.
'If someone wants to buy Cavani, they must pay 63 million euros, net - not one euro less than 63 million euros.
'Otherwise we will be happy to keep Cavani, he has a contract until 2017.'
We know Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has the money but the Russian does not want to be dragged into a bidding war for the Uruguayan even though the French champions, bankrolled by Qatari billions, are still £11m short of triggering the Uruguayan’s release clause.
Abramovich smashed the British transfer record when he paid Liverpool £50m for Fernando Torres in January 2011 and, although he is determined to support Jose Mourinho in the transfer market he is wary of another massive investment in a 26-year-old.
Galatasaray are resuming talks with Chelsea over a £16m move for Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel.
The anchorman joined the Blues in 2006 - signed by Jose Mourinho - after a protracted transfer saga involving Manchester United and Norwegian side Lyn Oslo.
But he may depart after six years on his first Chelsea manager's return to the club, with the Turkish giants poised to snap him up.
The deal would see Mikel reunited with Didier Drogba, who joined Galatasaray last season after leaving Chelsea for Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.
Mikel has four years remaining on his deal at Stamford Bridge, but admitted his future is unclear while on international duty with Nigeria at the Confederations Cup.
He said: 'I have a four-year contract with Chelsea, but you know, in football you can never guess, one day you are here, the next day you might leave.'
Still in Stamford Bridge Chelsea are expected to return to Norwich with an increase on their initial £5million bid for England international John Ruddy.
With Thibaut Courtois again loaned to Atletico Madrid for a season and Turnbull and Hilario being released, the blues are short of staffs in the Goal keeping department hence Jose Mourinho is keen to buy a goalie as back-up 'H.O.D' Petr Cech.
Norwich are believed to be holding out for closer to £10million however.
Gareth Bale agent Jonathan Barnett says there has been no offer yet from Real Madrid for the Tottenham midfielder.
Barnett says talks are still to take place between the two clubs despite £80m-rated Bale being targeted as a priority by Real president Florentino Perez.
Barnett, talking to 'Futboleros' on Marca TV said: 'Bale has not said no, nor yes. There's no offer from Madrid; they have to talk between themselves and we will see what happens.
'He was at Malaga airport [on Tuesday], he's been in Marbella on holiday. He comes back to Tottenham for pre-season training next week.'
Liverpool have accepted a £6million offer from Swansea for midfielder Jonjo Shelvey as they look to bolster their attacking options for the new season.
Chairman Huw Jenkins had admitted the club had serious interest in the England Under 21 international and are now much closer to securing his signature.
It is now up to the player to decide personal terms.
Swansea City have signed Alejandro Pozuelo from Real Betis on a three-year contract.
The 21-year-old attacking midfielder, who arrives for a £425,000 compensation fee after letting Betis contract run down, becomes the third Spaniard to join the club this week following the arrivals of his former Betis team-mate Jose Canas and Espanyol defender Jordi Amat.
Pozuelo underwent a medical in Swansea on Tuesday and said: ‘I am very happy to have joined Swansea City. Since I’ve been a little boy it has been my dream to play in the Premier League.
Pozuelo underwent a medical in Swansea on Tuesday and said: ‘I am very happy to have joined Swansea City. Since I’ve been a little boy it has been my dream to play in the Premier League.
‘From the moment I heard of the interest from Swansea I have watched their games and followed the news at the club. The style of the team suits me, and so too does the style of the manager.
‘Of course, there are a lot of Spanish players here including my old Betis team-mate Jose Canas, and that will help me to settle quickly.’
He added: ‘I am looking to improve my English immediately as I want to communicate better with my team-mates. On the pitch I just want to give everything I have to the club in order to help the team this season.’
Stoke have signed Spain Under-21 defender Marc Muniesa on a free transfer.
Muniesa, 21, became the second youngest player to play for Barca’s first-team when he made his debut as a 17-year-old, and was on the bench for the 2009 Champions League Final win over Manchester United.
Muniesa, who has attracted interest from Chelsea and a number of La Liga clubs, was also a member of the Spanish squad that won the European Under-21 Championships last month.
He said: ‘It wasn’t a big decision for me to make. I came to England yesterday to meet the people at the club and look around the training ground, which is very impressive.
‘I’m very excited about moving to England to play for Stoke City and will do everything I can to help the club.
‘My season only finished a fortnight ago when the European Championships ended but I can’t wait to get started for Stoke. I would start tomorrow if the club asked me to.’
Darren Bent has been told he will not play any part in Aston Villa's pre-season in the latest humiliating snub inflicted upon him by boss Paul Lambert.
Villa's chief has informed the England international that he will not feature in any warm-up matches ahead of the new Premier League campaign.
Bent, 29, has been ordered to train with three other players including Stephen Ireland.
Newcastle United are favourites to sign the out-of-favour forward in a deal valued at £8m - but if that fails to materialise, the £65,000-a-week striker could find himself sitting on the sidelines once more.
Alan Pardew is keen for Bent to return to the north-east - he joined Villa from Sunderland two-and-a-half years ago.
But Villa have not yet received a firm offer for the forward whose relationship with Lambert has hit rock-bottom.
Twelve months ago, upon the Scot's appointment, Bent was made club captain.
But then he fell from favour, losing his place in the first-team with Villa finally discovering a route to safety - and Bent confirmed that he would be seeking talks over his future after the penultimate match of the season.
Cardiff are hopeful of sealing an £11million deal for Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama. Talks are expected to resume today between the two clubs with manager Malky Mackay close to landing the 21-year-old Kenyan.
Mackay is also looking to hold further talks with Blackpool winger Tom Ince after having an £8m bid accepted for the England Under 21 player.
Sunderland's £4m offer for AZ Alkmaar striker Jozy Altidore has been rejected. The 23-year-old, valued at £7m, scored 23 goals last season.
An AZ spokesman said: ‘A first bid was insufficient. Now we wait.’
QPR centre-back Christopher Samba is on the verge of re-joining Anzhi Makhachkala for £12 million.
The 29-year-old was signed from the Russian club for an undisclosed club-record fee in January as the Hoops looked to beat the drop from thePremier League. Just six months on Samba is understood to be close to a return to Anzhi for the price relegated QPR are believed to have forked out for him.
It is a surprise turn by the defender, who expressed his relief that the Rs rejected a bid from Russia just weeks after he signed.
"All the money in the world cannot make you happy if you don't have your family with you," Samba said.
"I came back to be with my family. Life needs to have both sides - enjoy your football and have your loved ones close to you. I have no plans to go back to Russia."
The former Blackburn centre-back was one of the west Londoners' key targets in January as Harry Redknapp looked to shore up his defence.
Samba failed to live up to his billing and was unimpressive for the Rs, notably in a woeful performance against rivals Fulham in April
After that match he got into a Twitter row with fans after being criticised for his performances and reported wages of £100,000.
"To all you keep talking about 100k performance, tell me what is a 100k performance? We as players go out and give our all," he said at the time.
"We do are best every week, what I get paid has nothing to do with any of you, as for my price tag I didn't put a price on my head, grow up pls."
Former England manager Steve McClaren was recruited to Harry Redknapp’s backroom team yesterday as Queens Park Rangers continued the process of trimming the wage bill by selling their top-earning players.
McClaren moves into a coaching vacancy created by Glyn Hodges, who left QPR earlier this week to join Mark Hughes at Stoke.He has only worked briefly in this country - less than four months as manager of Nottingham Forest - since his ill-fated spell as England boss, which ended with failure to qualify for Euro 2008, and has been out of work since he was sacked by FC Twente in February.
'I wanted to look at freshening up the whole place, not just the playing side,' said Redknapp. 'I want new ideas, different opinions and another experienced head to speak to.'
Coaches Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan will remain in place.McClaren was beaten to the Wigan job by Owen Coyle and is still keen to manage, hence his short-term agreement at QPR.
'I’m delighted to take up this position offered to me by Harry and QPR,' said McClaren. 'Whilst it still remains my ambition to manage again this gives me an ideal opportunity to stay involved and work on the field with one of the top managers in this country and a very ambitious club.
'Rest assured, I’ll be doing all I can for Harry, the club and the fans to help QPR return to the Premier League.'
But then he fell from favour, losing his place in the first-team with Villa finally discovering a route to safety - and Bent confirmed that he would be seeking talks over his future after the penultimate match of the season.
Cardiff are hopeful of sealing an £11million deal for Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama. Talks are expected to resume today between the two clubs with manager Malky Mackay close to landing the 21-year-old Kenyan.
Mackay is also looking to hold further talks with Blackpool winger Tom Ince after having an £8m bid accepted for the England Under 21 player.
Sunderland's £4m offer for AZ Alkmaar striker Jozy Altidore has been rejected. The 23-year-old, valued at £7m, scored 23 goals last season.
An AZ spokesman said: ‘A first bid was insufficient. Now we wait.’
QPR centre-back Christopher Samba is on the verge of re-joining Anzhi Makhachkala for £12 million.
The 29-year-old was signed from the Russian club for an undisclosed club-record fee in January as the Hoops looked to beat the drop from thePremier League. Just six months on Samba is understood to be close to a return to Anzhi for the price relegated QPR are believed to have forked out for him.
It is a surprise turn by the defender, who expressed his relief that the Rs rejected a bid from Russia just weeks after he signed.
"All the money in the world cannot make you happy if you don't have your family with you," Samba said.
"I came back to be with my family. Life needs to have both sides - enjoy your football and have your loved ones close to you. I have no plans to go back to Russia."
The former Blackburn centre-back was one of the west Londoners' key targets in January as Harry Redknapp looked to shore up his defence.
Samba failed to live up to his billing and was unimpressive for the Rs, notably in a woeful performance against rivals Fulham in April
After that match he got into a Twitter row with fans after being criticised for his performances and reported wages of £100,000.
"To all you keep talking about 100k performance, tell me what is a 100k performance? We as players go out and give our all," he said at the time.
"We do are best every week, what I get paid has nothing to do with any of you, as for my price tag I didn't put a price on my head, grow up pls."
Former England manager Steve McClaren was recruited to Harry Redknapp’s backroom team yesterday as Queens Park Rangers continued the process of trimming the wage bill by selling their top-earning players.
McClaren moves into a coaching vacancy created by Glyn Hodges, who left QPR earlier this week to join Mark Hughes at Stoke.He has only worked briefly in this country - less than four months as manager of Nottingham Forest - since his ill-fated spell as England boss, which ended with failure to qualify for Euro 2008, and has been out of work since he was sacked by FC Twente in February.
'I wanted to look at freshening up the whole place, not just the playing side,' said Redknapp. 'I want new ideas, different opinions and another experienced head to speak to.'
Coaches Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan will remain in place.McClaren was beaten to the Wigan job by Owen Coyle and is still keen to manage, hence his short-term agreement at QPR.
'I’m delighted to take up this position offered to me by Harry and QPR,' said McClaren. 'Whilst it still remains my ambition to manage again this gives me an ideal opportunity to stay involved and work on the field with one of the top managers in this country and a very ambitious club.
'Rest assured, I’ll be doing all I can for Harry, the club and the fans to help QPR return to the Premier League.'
Lets say Abrahamovich is no longer a learner
ReplyDeleteSo mikel is tired of drinkin chelsea... nucca wants to eat gala
ReplyDeleteAs in na tru sumtin oo...Mikel don wise up,time to improve his footballing prowess
ReplyDelete